American Tamil attorney awarded $625,000 MacArthur Genius Grant

A Los Angeles based attorney of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage was selected and awarded the MacArthur “genius grant”, which comes with a no-strings-attached $625,000 stipend. The foundation identifies people doing groundbreaking good deeds, studies them from afar, then calls with the good news.

For Ahilan Arulanantham defending the rights of people fleeing violence became his life calling. The 43 year old from Southern California plans to put some of the money towards supporting human rights work in Sri Lanka. After all, that was his original calling to the cause, and one he now has the financial freedom to dedicate more time to.

In an in-depth interview with Fusion, Arulanantham speaks about his work to guarantee legal representation to immigrant children fleeing violence in Central America and how his Sri Lankan Tamil upbringing shaped the direction he pursued. Click here to read the full interview.